First silver medal for Italy
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Maranello (Modena), 16 February – After the bronze medals for Armin Zöggeler in the luge and Alessandro Pittin in the Nordic combined, the Italian delegation at the Olympic Games in Vancouver conquered its third medal with Pietro Piller Cotter in the 15 km cross country freestyle. This is the fourth success in the Olympic Games for the 35-year-old from Belluno after a silver medal in the relay in Salt Lake City in 2002, the gold and bronze medal in the relay and pursuit race in Turin in 2006. This here in Vancouver is his best individual result, coming in just behind the Swiss Dario Cologna and ahead of the Czech athlete Lukas Bauer. Great satisfaction also for Ferrari, engaged in the collaboration project with CONI in Olympic disciplines – studying the athlete’s position on the luge, the evolution of the luge’s material and bottom, in the Nordic combined – downhill racing and ski jumping – aerodynamic optimisation of the athlete’s position during the jump and in all Alpine events the optimisation of the fabrics used for the athletes’ overalls.
After the disappointment in the downhill race due to soft snow at Whistler, won by the Swiss Didier Defago, ahead of the Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal and the American Bode Miller, Italy is now getting ready for the double luge event and the short track race, set for tomorrow at 5pm (18 February at 2am in Italy).